Change Brings Nostalgia

Remember when all the breakfast cereals included a Special Offer? All we had to do was choose our cereal according to the special offer and go home from the grocery store with big plans. I'll date myself, here, but actually life is already doing that, so I'll make my point in haste. For twenty-five cents + the box top, this was before the days of bar codes, one could send off for amazing things. On the brink of yet another postal increase, I might mention, the twenty-five cents included shipping and handling. There were stamp sets, special little pocket games, and of course, decoder rings. If only I had a few decoder rings for all this technology. Naturally, I'm kidding, but, maybe I could sell them on e-bay as antiques! Those were the days. There was always the fine print, instructing to allow 4 - 6 weeks for delivery. Once I had mailed my hard earned quarter and the box top from some box of cereal that I had to finish, because I wanted it, I went to the mail box every day, anxiously awaiting my Special Offer! Now, at 50, instead of waiting for something, it's all happening so fast. Every day there is a new something to learn about, to change our lives, or that has affected thousands of lives somewhere else. And every day, there is a new discover, organization, or investigation that we are supposed to believe makes us safer or better equipped. Today, in reading the headlines, I realize nearly every article has a reference or term that I Google search. The new acronyms for new departments of bureaucracy are mind boggling. When I happen across them, I recognize what they are, but I want to know what they really are! As the terminology to define the latest communication "connectability" continues to expand, I like to know what the letters actually stand for, even if I don't ever plan to participate or partake. I stopped carrying a cell phone when I could no longer get one without GPS. I don't want to be tracked, so I'm glad to know what GPS stands for, so I can opt out. Then of course there are the words that are defined and redefined by usage. The dictionary continues to expand. If I had known then, what I know now, I'd have kept better track of my decoder ring and if only I'd have had the insight to order extra ones back when a quarter covered shipping and handling and bought a gallon of gas.
There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. Ecclesiastes of Holy Scripture